ExxonMobil asks court to block climate subpoena

OREANDA-NEWS. June 16, 2016.  ExxonMobil is seeking to block a state subpoena the company argues would violate its right to free speech by forcing it to turn over 40 years of internal documents on climate change research.

ExxonMobil today asked a federal court in Texas to block enforcement of the subpoena. Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey filed the subpoena in April as part of her probe into whether the company violated state law by not disclosing to investors and consumers what it knew about the risks of climate change.

ExxonMobil in its legal filing today argued the subpoena was a politically motivated "fishing expedition" that was illegal and would cost the company millions of dollars. Healey's allegations are a "weak pretext for an unlawful exercise of government power" that is primarily intended to find documents that could advance political goals related to climate policy, the company said.

ExxonMobil said the subpoena is unlawful because it would limit its political speech and represent an illegal government search. The company said the law cited in Healey's investigation is limited to a period of four years, but requests documents dating back to 1976. ExxonMobil said that since 2009 it has supported a carbon tax as its preferred method to respond to climate change.

"The great irony here is that we have acknowledged the risks of climate change for more than a decade, have supported a carbon tax as the better policy option and spent more than \\$7bn on research and technologies to reduce emissions," ExxonMobil said in a statement.

ExxonMobil has received similar subpoenas from the attorneys general in New York and the US Virgin Islands. ExxonMobil in April asked a court to block the Virgin Islands subpoena. It has not yet responded to the New York subpoena.

The Massachusetts attorney general's office said it was reviewing the lawsuit.